


Let Me Save You

by RosalindHawkins



Series: "Let Me" [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Anorexia, Break Up, Cutting, High School, Homosexuality, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Child Abuse, Rehab, Self-Harm, Vandalism, Yaoi, puppyshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:38:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7848937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalindHawkins/pseuds/RosalindHawkins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People change. Sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse. When they've changed so much for the worst, though, can they really turn their lives around, or are they too far gone?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Homeless

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee tickled Joey's nose as he sat back in his chair. He was sitting at a tiny table for two in this downtown cafe, but it was enough space for him to spread out his textbook and notes as he studied for his midterms. He chuckled to himself as he remembered the look on Yugi's face when Joey told him that he'd be sticking around to study. He set his chin in his hand and gazed out the window, remembering how he and Yugi had shared coffee at this very table that morning, talking about and their plans for the future. Life was good, and Joey didn't have any complaints.

March had barely begun, but snow was still around, piled at the edges of the road in dirty slush. The street-salt crunched underfoot on the de-iced sidewalks and the air was still brisk with the chill of winter. Hopefully spring was just around the corner. There wasn't enough snow left for it to be fun, but just enough left for it to be a nuisance.

Staring out at pedestrians passing in amiable chatter, Joey had the sudden urge to quit his studying, at least for now. He could come back. He wanted to be active right now, though. He wanted to take part in the bustling flow of humans through Domino City and feel its rhythm pulsing through the pavement.

As Joey started shoving his notes and textbooks into his backpack, he reflected on that impulse. He'd always been like that, restless for human interaction, wanting to take part in something bigger than himself. City life had suited him well. Its distance from the city was probably the only aspect he disliked about Seto's estate.

He slung his backpack onto his shoulder and draped his blue scarf around his neck. It was still bright with newness, like the shiny grey coat he wore. He pushed on the door to the cafe, hearing the bell ring behind him as he exited and started walking towards the park.

The cold really didn't bother him much. He liked it. And he didn't mind that it was a long walk to the park and that he'd have to make the long walk back in order to return to the car that Joey'd borrowed from his boyfriend.

He was in a good mood, and since he was feeling generous, when he passed a homeless man bundled in black and sitting between a trash can and a mailbox, hat held out for spare change, Joey passed and pulled out the cash in his pocket from his cafe purchase, he held it out to drop it into the man's hat, but froze when their eyes met. The blond blinked a few times to make sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Dad?"

* * *

"Stay. Stay. Stay." Kaiba took several slow steps backwards away from the three dogs who sat with their ears perked and their eyes glued to the tennis ball in their master's hand. He shifted his hold on the bright green sphere, able to feel the texture of the nylon fibers better than ever before. The brunette straightened up and pulled his arm back before throwing the ball as far out into the field as he could, which was actually quite far. The moment the ball left his hand, all three dogs took off, jostling each other as they each tried to be the first to reach the toy.

"They're so fast," Mokuba observed in awe as he watched them dashing through the mud and grass after their quarry.

"Shiloh's the fastest one." The dark, short-haired, German pointer was gaining a lead on his peers.

"Garnet's probably gonna steal it from him, though." As the German pointer snatched the ball out of the grass, skidding as it attempted to quickly reverse its direction, the red mutt caught up and tackled the more stately canine.

"You'll have to give them another bath when we go back in," Seto muttered, glancing down at his brother, who wasn't _quite_ so short anymore. He'd had something of a growth spurt this winter, which pleased him very much. Seto felt like he should have been more pleased by it, but instead, it left a bittersweet taste in his mouth. He rested his hand on top of his little brother's head, noticing how his arm now had to bend so much more than it used to. Mokuba tipped his head back to look at his brother curiously.

"What's on your mind, Seto?" he asked. Even his voice was different. When had it started to change, and how had he missed that?

"Nothing important." The brunette put his hand back in his pocket and looked out at the playful hounds again. He was surprised when his brother chuckled.

"That's a first."

"What?"

"You used to never waste time thinking about unimportant things." Mokuba used his brother's words, but his tone was just as playful as his pets.

"People change."

"I know." Mokuba gently tugged Seto's hand out of his pocket and interlaced their fingers. Had his small hand gotten bigger? "Change is good though."

"Sometimes, and sometimes it's bad. Change is inevitable, though, so it doesn't do us any good to fight it."

"Sometimes," Mokuba replied cheekily. "And sometimes, we can influence change so that it's for the better."

* * *

Joey and his dad sat together at a table in the back of a pizza place. It wasn't very busy, but that was probably a good thing right now. Joey'd listened patiently as his father told him just what had happened to him in the ten months since he'd last seen his son. His addictions had gotten worse, his efforts to get a job, no matter how small or seasonal, had diminished, and eventually, his landlord had thrown him out for getting so behind on his rent; he'd been kind enough to wait for the wretched winter weather to pass, though, and had only just kicked him out a few days ago, on the first of March. He still owed him a ton, and he'd said that if Mr. Wheeler could pay the amount he owed, he could let him back in. On that day, his father said, he'd realized that he needed to get clean, or he'd be dead within the year. He hadn't drunk once since then, which was probably his longest sober-streak he'd ever had since becoming morbidly alcoholic. During his time sober and homeless, he'd had the time to think over his life: his failed marriage, his estranged daughter, his abused son. He'd had the time to recognize his own sins and regret everything he'd done.

As Joey ate the crust of his last piece of pizza, he contemplated his options. He could pay off his father's debt and get him back into the apartment they'd shared for years, but what then? He couldn't just leave him there on his own. What if the familiar setting made him slip back into his old habits? Joey didn't want to risk that, but he also couldn't let his old man stay on the streets, especially not when...

"I want you to come home with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Joey smiled at his father, something he hadn't done in years. "We have plenty of room for you."

"We?"

The lanky teen blushed a little as he shifted uncomfortably. His father didn't know what had become of him after he'd gone to school one day and never returned.

"You know who Seto Kaiba is, right?"

"The president of KaibaCorp? Yeah, I know him."

"And you remember that he was my classmate at one point, right?" Joey continued a bit awkwardly.

"Vaguely." His forehead wrinkled as he concentrated on dredging up those old memories.

"Well, we're together now." The moment the last word fell from his lips, he shoved the last bite of crust in his mouth, his eyes averted as he waited for his father's reaction. Mr. Wheeler had never known that his son was bi.

"How long?" was his only response, and Joey felt a little relieved.

"Pretty much ever since I left you," he answered. "A little less than that."

"So you've been living with him all this time?"

"Yep." Joey could feel his face grow hot, and he hoped that it didn't show. "So like I said, we have plenty of room."

"Will he be okay with that, though? With me, I mean?" He didn't remember much about the teenage CEO himself, but he could imagine that someone as rich as that would have quite an ego. He'd probably be insulted be Cliff's dirty presence inside his pristine home.

"Of course he will!" the blond enthused, grinning reassuringly. "Besides, he could never say no to me."


	2. Outcast

"No."

"What?" Joey couldn't believe his ears. He honestly hadn't believed that Seto could possibly turn down his request for his father to stay with him.

"Joey, your dad needs _help_ ," Seto said as he turned around to face his lover once more. "He shouldn't be here, he should be in rehab. It's like you told me last summer: addiction isn't about willpower. It's about a biochemical craving that you can't control."

"I can't put my dad in an institution!" Joey exclaimed, making Seto frown at him. "I haven't seen him in almost a year, and this is the first time since I was a kid that I've actually seen him sober. He's turning into someone I could actually look up to!"

"Look up to? No." Kaiba rejected the notion quickly. "He's starting to become someone you could actually _like_. That's assuming that he doesn't fall off the wagon and relapse. You might have actually made things _worse_ by bringing him here: do you realize how many bottles of wine are in the cellar right now? It wouldn't be that hard for him to find it and get it, then he could drink as much as he likes!"

"You just don't think he's good enough to live here!" Joey was upset and angry, and he was in no mood to listen to reason. "You don't want a former drunk hanging around the house!"

"No, I just think he's dangerous!" Seto shouted back, losing his temper. "You're lucky I'm not telling you to turn him in to the police!"

"Why the fuck should I do _that_?!"

"Because he's a negligent, abusive father, and he shouldn't get away with that!"

"This is because of Gozaburo, isn't it?" Joey accused, glaring at the brunette fiercely. "You just don't believe that bad people can change!"

"This has _nothing_ to do with him!" Seto cried in exasperation. "This has _everything_ to do with you being irresponsible!"

"Irresponsible? I find my father in the gutter and bring him home, and you call that _irresponsible_? You're fucking kidding me!"

"I cartainly am _not_! Have you ever stopped to think that by bringing him here, you might be putting Mokuba in danger?"

"In _danger_?"

"Yes, in danger! Your father abused you for what, almost a decade? Do you really think he stopped when you left? Do you really think he didn't find a substitute while you were gone?"

Joey was silent for a moment, stunned into speechlessness by Seto's accusations. He wasn't sure if it was because he thought Seto might be right, or if it was because Seto sounded so sure of himself.

"I'm sorry, but he can't stay here. Not right now." Seto seemed to be regaining some degree of composure, but Joey was starting to find his voice.

"Bastard," Joey growled, his eyes narrowed at the other in a savage glare. "Just because you never had a decent father doesn't mean you can just take mine away from me!"

"Not that you have a decent father either," Kaiba scoffed, crossing his arms. That seemed to be Joey's last straw. He turned away from the brunette and marched into the closet, shouting at him over his shoulder.

"That's it! I've had it with you! You stubborn, pig-headed-"

And the insults continued, being tossed ruthlessly from one to the other all while Joey threw a random assortment of clothes into a duffel bag, hardly aware of what he was taking, although he was grabbing mostly his own clothes. As much as they could be his own when Seto had bought all of them for him.

Their volume increased as they continued to argue, and the mansion only fell silent once Joey had stormed out with his father in tow. Seto's throat was hoarse from all the shouting, but he didn't feel the weight of the silence until that night when he was trying to sleep. It was midnight, but he was wide awake.

Sex and sleep had become nightly occurrences while Joey was here. Now, he felt restless and empty. Jerking off by himself would be unfulfilling, biut he didn't want to sleep. For the first time in almost a year, Seto Kaiba got out of bed and went back to his home office, where he worked on his laptop for the rest of the night.

* * *

Joey had a hard time getting comfortable that night. He'd become so accustomed to luxury without even realizing it. His old sheets were scratchy and reeked of cigarette smoke, and the whole apartment stank of beer, so much so that he felt intoxicated by the very smell. He wanted to throw open the windows and aerate the place, then scrub the whole apartment with bleach. He'd never had the impulse to clean before, which was a testament to how much life at the Kaiba mansion had changed him.

There was always tomorrow. He'd clean tomorrow, buy some decent food with the money that remained in his bank account after paying his father's debt. His old things were still here, but now that he thought about it, he'd left his deck behind, along with some of his textbooks and other miscellany. The last thing he wanted was to go crawling back to the mansion to collect his things.

Was he actually moving out, though? He didn't know. If Seto apologized, he'd be more than willing to go back. _With_ his father, of course. Even now, though, Kaiba rarely apologized, so he didn't have high hopes. He didn't know what this meant for their relationship, but he was mad enough right now to leave him despite his love, and that alone was a scary thought. Not wanting to be left alone with his fears, he got out of bed and changed back into his street clothes. He grabbed his wallet and went off to buy some cleaning supplies from a convenience store, or whatever shop was open at this time of night.

When his father found him the next morning, he'd fallen asleep in the process of scrubbing the kitchen floor.

* * *

"Did Joey leave?"

Kaiba stopped short as he heard his brother's voice. What was he doing awake at this time? It was barely six o'clock in the morning. He turned around and saw his brother standing at the top of the stairs wearing his pajamas. His thick black hair was braided back for the night.

"Yes, Joey left," Seto answered briskly.

"I thought so. I heard you guys shouting last night." Mokuba frowned at his brother with a furrowed brow. "What were you fighting about?"

"That's none of your business." He turned to leave.

"Did you two break up?"

"Of course not. He'll be back. You'll see. Now go back to bed."

"Why are you going to work on a Sunday?"

"Something came up. It's urgent and they need me there."

"Oh." Mokuba paused. "Will you be home for dinner?"

"Probably not."

"Have a good day, then." Mokuba tried to sound cheerful, but failed.

"You too." And with that, he left, bulletproof brief-case in hand.


	3. Exile

Joey and his father spent the day catching up and cleaning up. He needed to act as if he was moving forward with his life, and when Seto realized that, he'd hopefully realize that he needed to be the one to apologize, that Joey wasn't the one out of line this time. Things were tense and awkward between them at first, but by the end of the day, they could talk with a fair degree of ease. Mr. Wheeler expressed regret at seeming to rupture his relationship, but Joey assured him that this was just a bump in the road, and that there was nothing for him to be concerned about. They'd fought before, but they'd get over it. The next day, Joey would go to school and his father would get a job, and they'd just carry on until Kaiba came to his senses.

When he did go to school, he looked more rumpled than usual, and Yugi could tell that something was off about him. He shrugged it off, though, not wanting to think about anything.

Yugi knew something was wrong from the start, though. For one thing, Joey walked to school that day instead of driving. Usually he dropped Mokuba off before driving _himself_ to school. The King of Games watched him carefully, noticing how Joey was paying attention in class. Not only that, but he was actually taking detailed notes, which was disturbing. It must mean that something was wrong. Joey only ever took good notes when something was wrong.

Yugi took him outside during lunch, away from the others so that they could talk privately.

"What's going on, Joey?" he asked as they strolled through the parking lot. "You've been acting strangely today."

"I... saw my dad again." Joey admitted as he kicked a pebble across the asphalt. Yugi remained silent, waiting for more, so Joey sighed and complied. "He's getting clean. I tried to take him home. Seto got really mad, so I'm back in the apartment with my dad."

"He kicked you out?" Yugi sounded shocked, but relaxed a little when he saw Joey shake his head.

"Nah, I just got mad an' ditched 'im," Joey mumbled, kicking at a larger rock this time and watching it skip across the ground before it landed.

"Ah." Everything made much more sense now. "When was that?"

"Saturday night."

"Have you two... spoken at all since then?"

"Nope." Joey kicked at the pebble again.

Yugi was silent for a while before asking, "Why did Seto get mad?"

"He accused me of puttin' Mokuba in danger," Joey grumbled angrily. "Pfft! It's like he thinks I don't care."

"That must be really hard to hear." Yugi spoke slowly, his answer quite diplomatic, but Joey wasn't paying enough attention to notice that he wasn't outright agreeing with him.

"Heck yeah! He's finally turnin' his life around, and Kaiba can't even be supportive that I'm tryin' ta help 'im!"

"What did he say, _exactly_?"

"That I was being irresponsible."

"You were just being generous."

"Exactly! See, _you_ get it! Cause you're not a jerk like Kaiba." Nowadays, Joey only called him Kaiba when he was angry.

"But Seto's generous too, Joey. Don't you remember?"

"O' course I do!" Joey huffed with irritation. As if he could forget last summer's drama when Mokuba had been taken away from them.

"Just don't do anything impulsive," Yugi advised as gently as he could. "You two belong together. I would hate to see you guys breakup."

Joey just grunted vaguely with no real intention of listing to his advice. Impulsivity was too much a part of him to control it.

* * *

"Seto Kaiba, you are coming home with me right now!" Mokuba had burst through the door of Seto's office and now stood there as sassy as anything, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, his toes tapping impatiently.

"You can't order me around." Only after the words came out of his mouth did Seto realize how puerile and petulant he sounded.

"You've been up here for the past two days." Mokuba's eyes narrowed in a glare that perfectly imitated his brother's. "You need to come home and sleep, and don't tell me that you _have_ been sleeping, because I know you'd be lying."

Kaiba checked his watch and frowned. "Why are you up this late on a school night?"

"Because, _like I said_ , you haven't been home for two. Whole. Days." Mokuba marched over to his brother's desk chair and started pulling him by the hand. "Get your _big butt_ out of that chair and come _home_!"

"It's not _big_ ," Seto grumbled as he snatched his iPhone from the desk before letting his little brother drag him away. He didn't bother taking his laptop with him. He'd be coming right back in the morning anyways.

* * *

"Let me out of bed, Mokuba," Seto growled as his little brother did his best to pin him down, which included turning into a dead-weight on his brother's chest.

"No. You haven't even been home for eight hours, which is how long you should be sleeping."

"I _know_ that, and _you_ should be sleeping that much too," Kaiba snapped as he hoisted Mokuba over his shoulder and left his room before heading down the hallway towards Mokuba's room. "Stop wriggling like that or I'll drop you."

"Put me down, and I won't have to wriggle!"

"Fine." Seto paused and put his brother down, only to have Mokuba drop to the ground and hug his leg like a little black bear. "What the heck are you doing?"

"I'm trying to stop you from being stupid." Mokuba glared up at his brother. "You need to sleep, and I'm not letting go of you until you agree to go back to sleep _right now_."

"I'm not going to do that. I have to work, and _you_ have to go to school." Kaiba crossed his arms and gave his brother a look of superiority.

"You've been working for two frickin' days! I think you can spare the time to sleep."

"Watch your language, young man," Seto rebuked immediately.

Mokuba sighed heavily, and just hugged his brother's calf more tightly.

"Stop acting like a small child."

"I thought I was a young man?" he retorted cheekily, making his brother roll his eyes.

"I'm serious, Mokuba: get off."

"Only if you agree to go back to bed and get some more sleep."

"I got as much sleep as you, and you seem fine."

"That's true, but I also slept the night before last, unlike you."

They glared at each other stubbornly, each one waiting for the other to give in.

"If I go to sleep, will you still go to school?"

"Of course." Mokuba adopted the smug grin he'd learned from his brother.

"Fine. You can let go of me now."

"That means you're going back to sleep, right?"

"Sure."

"Promise?"

Kaiba sighed and promised grudgingly.

"Okay, good." Mokuba finally released him. "You go back to bed while I get ready for school."

"I don't need _you_ telling me what to do," Seto grumbled as he turned around and returned to his room. He didn't intend on sleeping, just waiting for Mokuba to leave. It would put his brother's mind at rest. He sat down on his bed and flopped down onto his back, closing his eyes for a moment.

Mokuba was right that he was tired, but he could push through it. That's what he'd always done in the past. He'd be fine. He didn't need Joey to be alright. He'd be fine...

With no intention of falling asleep, he'd still done so. He woke up at around ten and cursed himself for sleeping. He'd have to shower quickly so that he could get back to the office before his board meeting.

Mokuba had been right: he was exhausted. But Seto had already reverted to being a workaholic insomniac, so he wasn't going to sleep again until it was absolutely necessary.

* * *

"Hey Joey!"

The blond turned around when he heard his name called and was surprised to see Mokuba running towards him.

"Why aren't you at school?"

"It's lunch-time. They won't miss me," Mokuba answered breezily as he came to a stop in front of the blond, panting a little. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Ya coulda called me," Joey replied uncomfortably, sensing that this might turn into a conversation they'd rather have privately. "Come on, let's talk somewhere else." He guided Mokuba up to the roof, whose perimeter was fenced in for safety. If it hadn't been, Joey wouldn't have brought him there at all. He'd grown to be quite protective of the younger Kaiba. Mokuba had waited patiently for them to get there before he started to speak.

"You're going to come back, right?"

It was hard for Joey to look into Mokuba's big grey eyes and his worried expression. He wanted to reassure him, but he didn't want to lie. Much.

"O' course I will," he answered, sitting on a bench and patting the spot beside him so that Mokuba joined him. "But your brother has to apologize first."

"Why? What did he do?" Mokuba didn't know what had transpired between the two of them. All he knew was that it had been loud and angry.

"That's not important—" Joey began, trying to brush off the issue and keep the child in the dark.

"If it wasn't important, then why aren't you home?" He crossed his arms, starting to look upset. "If it's not important, then why isn't Seto sleeping anymore? I have to keep dragging him back home, because if I don't, he'll just stay at his office forever!" It was Friday now, and he'd done that every day of the week so that Seto didn't try to stay overnight again, like he had Sunday night. "He told me you'd be back, but he didn't say when or why you left."

Joey snorted derisively, despite the present company and the twinge he felt when he heard that Seto wasn't sleeping well. "I'll be back alright, when he stops being so stubborn."

"Stubborn about _what_?" He was trying hard to understand their predicament, but it didn't help that nobody would tell him what was going on.

"That's not your business—"

"I want to _help_!" He sprang up off the bench and stood in front of Joey with his arms crossed. "I _like_ things the way they've been! I _like_ it when he sleeps and comes home for dinner and he's happy, but he's only like that when _you're_ home!" He took a deep breath before he kept going. "There's got to be _something_ I can do to help."

"Hey, calm down," Joey said softly, reaching out and uncrossing Mokuba's arms so that he could take hold of those smaller hands. "This isn't your fault so don't feel like you're the one who needs to bring us back together."

"I'm the only one around now to look after him, though." His protest sounded like a sad whine. "And I was never very good at that. I always did what I could to get him out of his own head, but you know how he is. He doesn't listen to me because he doesn't have to and I can't make him." Mokuba had seen himself as his brother's keeper, at least since the second time they were orphaned, just as much as Seto did.

"You're brother is a grown man, Mokuba," Joey said seriously, trying to keep his cool. "He can take care of himself. He might be a little out of sorts right now, but he'll get a grip and come to his senses soon enough. Then everything will be back to normal." He didn't know if Seto would ever do that, but he couldn't tell Mokuba that. Even so, the youth still looked troubled.

"Promise?"

"I can't promise that, Mokuba. You know that." Joey hated admitting it, but it was true. There was nothing more to say, so he pulled Mokuba closer and kissed his forehead before standing. "Let's get you back to school, okay? I'll walk you." Holding Mokuba's hand, Joey walked towards the door that would take them back inside. "You shouldn't come here only again, though. It's not safe, okay?"

"Okay," Mokuba sighed. "Why don't _you_ apologize to Seto instead of waiting for him?"

"Because _I_ didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh." He wasn't satisfied with this conclusion, but talking to Joey wasn't his last resort. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He'd get Joey and Seto back together one way or another, and he would do whatever it took.


	4. Vagabond

Two weeks after their falling out, Joey and Seto still hadn't spoken to each other. Mokuba hadn't reached out to Joey again, but Yugi was still working on his friend, using his diplomatic approach to try and convince him to yield and talk to Kaiba. Joey was still stubbornly refusing, but he _was_ wearing down.

The day after Mokuba talked to Joey, he started acting differently. He stayed up way too late Friday night, slept in until noon on Saturday, then spent the whole weekend playing video games. Seto kept himself engrossed in his work to keep his mind completely occupied, so at first, he didn't realize what was going on. When Mokuba started talking back to teachers and misbehaving in school, however, Seto couldn't very well ignore the phone call he received from the principal on Wednesday afternoon. His little brother was being kept late for detention that day, but only on that day, because the teachers knew that Mokuba was a good kid and normally very well behaved. The principal advised Seto to have a talk with him, then they hung up.

The president of KaibaCorp spared a minute in his busy schedule to contemplate this. It was unusual, certainly. Mokuba'd never had trouble in school, except for issues related to Seto himself—on rare occasions, Mokuba'd gotten into a small fist-fight with other boys taunting him about a shit-filled tabloid, but he only ever came to blows when the provocation was severe. That kind of behavior, Seto understood. _This_ , though, was different. After last Friday, Mokuba had stopped hauling his brother out of his office, letting him stay and work for as long as he cared to every night since. It was strange, for sure. He made a mental note to have a talk with Mokuba the next time he saw him. He didn't see him again after that, and promptly forgot that he'd intended to do so.

On Friday, he got another call from the principal.

"Mr. Kaiba"—the man internally cringed at referring to someone young enough to be in high school as mister—"I'm afraid your little brother has committed an act of vandalism that we simply cannot overlook."

"Vandalism?" Now _that_ caught his attention.

"Yes, vandalism. He has defaced school property, and I need you to come in as soon as possible so that we can discuss what happened and maybe figure out why he's rebelling as he is."

Seto growled in the back of his throat. "I'll be there in half an hour." He hung up without saying anything else, which was probably rude of him, but he honestly didn't care right now. He paged his secretary.

"I need you to clear my schedule for the afternoon. I've been unexpectedly called out to handle a personal matter."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba, right away sir," she answered promptly. She was used to him hanging up abruptly, and it no longer bothered her.

As he walked out of his office, suitcase in one hand, cellphone in the other, he called his driver with instructions to be picked up immediately. Their destination was Domino Middle School.

* * *

"Have there been any disruptions in home life recently?" the principle asked as Kaiba sat in front of his desk, his arms and legs crossed as he glared at the school administrator with impatience.

"No." Kaiba found this particular habit of the school principle—speaking to him one on one like a therapist as if he could fix all their problems with his speculation—to be quite maddening. He'd never seen any point to it.

"Behavior like this usually occurs when children are trying to get their parents'—or, rather, their guardian's attention."

Seto rolled his eyes at the man's verbal stumbling. He wasn't offended by the first term; he didn't know why the principal seemed to think that he would be.

"This behavior said usually occurs with the introduction of a new sibling or when their parents get divorced or their home situation changes in a drastic way that's upsetting to them. Sometimes it's something very small that you might not even notice, but that affects them deeply for personal reasons."

Kaiba blinked at the man in surprise. "Are you... telling me that I'm _wrong_?"

"Not wrong, per se," the man began, but Kaiba stopped paying attention after that. The man went on trying to explain himself, but Seto's patience ran out quickly.

"Look, I'll pay to fix whatever he did," he interrupted, starting to stand. "But this kind of discussion doesn't accomplish anything. What's his punishment?"

"It's not that simple, Mr. Kaiba." He stood as well, looking flustered. "He wasn't the only perpetrator. His gang members have been suspended because they're repeat offenders, but in his case—"

"His _gang members_?" Kaiba was shocked. "You're telling me he's part of a _gang_?"

"It would appear that way. Like I said, this behavior from a child who's usually so well-behaved is strange and usually purposeful behavior. In order to keep this from recurring, we need to uncover his motivations."

He paged his own secretary and told her to send Mokuba in before his guest could further protest.

"Please sit down, Mr. Kaiba."

Seto reluctantly complied, although he disliked being told what to do. Mokuba entered, looking strangely unashamed and unrepentant. He did cow a little, though, under his brother's withering glare.

"Mokuba, do you know why you're here?"

Seto rolled his eyes as he bit back a sharp retort. What a stupid way to start this conversation.

"Yes. I'm here because I helped spray-paint a Red-Eyes Black Dragon inside the teacher's lounge during lunch."

Seto looked at his brother sharply, and Mokuba turned to smirk back at him. The principal missed the true significance of this exchange.

"And you joined a _gang_ ," Seto added slowly, his tone of voice intimidating enough to make the principal cower a little. The man swallowed hard and tried to stay on topic.

"What we're both wondering," he said, making Seto disdain the man even more for thinking that he could speak for him. "Is why you chose to do this when you clearly know that it's wrong."

"Yes, please, enlighten me." Seto was almost sarcastic as his brother started to glare back at him.

"Because I haven't seen you _once_ all week."

"I'm busy, you know that."

"Not _that_ busy! You could always make time for me when _Joey_ was around!"

"So _that's_ what this is about?"

"Yes!" Mokuba jumped out of his chair and stomped his foot, his fists balled at his sides. "Just because you're mad at him doesn't mean that you have to shut me out too!"

Mokuba himself was just as surprised as the others when his eyes started to water with tears. This was all supposed to just be a ploy: act out to get his brother's attention and let the principal convince him that Mokuba's bad behavior was caused by his being upset by home instability; that would make Seto realize that throwing Joey out had far more repercussions than he'd anticipated, and that he should just get Joey back so that Mokuba was no longer upset. He hadn't meant to get carried away by his own con.

When tears started to wet his cheeks, Seto held out a hand to his younger brother and pulled him closer to his chair.

"I tried telling you to stop, but you wouldn't listen to me," Mokuba whispered as his brother pulled him into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around Seto's neck and closed his eyes. "I don't like it when you work that much, Seto. You're too hard on yourself." The next part Mokuba whispered into his ear: "Just because Joey hurt you doesn't mean you have to stop feeling altogether. _I_ still love you."

Seto's embrace tightened, and he murmured a near-silent thanks in his brother's ear. After a short while, he released him and started handing him tissues from the box on the principal's desk.

"It seems we've made some progress," the principal said, reminding Seto of his irritating presence. He cast a brief glare at the middle-aged man before standing and taking Mokuba by the hand.

"I'll send you a check for repairs," he said over his shoulder as he started walking out of the office with his brother.

"Wait, Mr. Kaiba, we still have to discuss disciplinary action—" He tried to call him back, but Kaiba didn't seem to hear him. Either that, or he was purposefully ignoring the headmaster. It was impossible to tell, really. He paged his secretary. "Ms. Parker, for the record, Mokuba Kaiba was suspended for the rest of the day." It was better than saying that he just walked out.


	5. Disconsolate

"You're not going to _stay_ with that gang, are you?"

"Oh, no, definitely not." Mokuba wrinkled his nose. "I didn't really like them. Besides, I'm the one who made sure we got caught, so they'll never want to talk to me again."

"You thought of pretty much everything, didn't you?" Seto was impressed by his brother's cleverness, though he was reasonably concerned about how he might use it in the future.

"I planned everything myself."

"So painting the Red-Eyes was _your_ idea, then?" Seto asked from his closet as he changed his clothes.

"Yep!" Mokuba's response was cheeky, and he sounded a bit too proud of his achievement. "I took a picture of it so I can show you. Later, though," he amended as Seto emerged from his closet in a t-shirt and sweatpants. The t-shirt was Joey's white and blue one. "You need to sleep for now."

"Yeah, I _do_ need to sleep," he finally admitted as he joined his brother on his bed. Mokuba had already changed out of his uniform into something comfy as well. He planned on napping with his brother, since that seemed to be what it took to get Seto to finally let himself rest. Mokuba curled into the curve of his brother's outstretched arm and glanced at his brother to see that he was already asleep. He smiled a little and stretched up to kiss his brother's cheek.

"I love you, Seto," he whispered, closing his eyes too as he gradually drifted into a light doze.

Seto slept for a couple hours that afternoon, waking up just in time for dinner. He hadn't had a decent meal in a while, so he was rather hungry by this time. He was also feeling rather depressed, a feeling he explored more when he'd gone back to his room to go back to sleep.

For these past two weeks, he'd kept himself so busy with work, so busy that he didn't sleep, because he didn't want to stop and think about what had happened. Now, though, he couldn't suppress the truth anymore. He broke down in his darkened room, sobbing the way he did when he was a child and nobody was around to hear.

Romantically speaking, Joey was the only one who'd ever given him a chance, the only one he'd ever loved, and the only one who'd ever loved him. How could he be so tactless as to drive him away? His opinions on Joey's father hadn't changed, but he saw that he should have been much more compassionate towards him. Maybe people _could_ change that much. Just because he hadn't seen it didn't mean it was impossible, right?

Now, he wasn't angry anymore. He was just afraid that he'd pushed Joey away forever. He fell asleep with this weight on his heart, but only after copious tears.

* * *

"C'mon, Tristan, no way!" Joey shifted his phone between his chin and his shoulder as he made himself a double-decker PB&J. "Nobody can fit _that_ many marshmallows in their mouth at once!"

 _Hm, marshmallows..._ He reached into the cabinet and tore open a bag of marshmallows and began adding them to his sandwich. If there was one thing that he had missed while living at Kaiba's mansion, it was easy access to junk food.

"No way!" he exclaimed into the phone, laughing loudly, the cheery sound mingling with the noise of the thunderstorm outside. Soon, though, he'd fallen silent, scowling at his sandwich. "I don't wanna talk about 'im right now, okay?" A moment later: "Stop being such a bitch, just let it go already!" He hung up on his friend then, not wanting to explain to him why he'd never told Tristan that he was bisexual or why he never talked to him about Kaiba ever since they started dating. It was too complicated, and Joey just wanted to forget it all.

After adding various other ingredients, Joey's unorthodox peanut butter sandwich was ready to be eaten, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Frowning, he abandoned the sticky mess on its paper plate and went to check the peep hole. He couldn't believe his eyes. He needed to throw open the door in order to know that he wasn't being tricked by his own mind.

There stood the high and mighty Seto Kaiba, wearing Joey's ripped jeans and his white and blue t-shirt, soaked to the skin and panting softly, cheeks flushed from exertion. The shirt was a little small on him, and the water plastering it to his chest and making it translucent didn't help. Water dripped from his hair, even from the eyelashes that fluttered around those sad blue eyes...

Neither of them seemed to know what to say for a few moments, both of them assessing the other's state after their two week hiatus.

"Seto..." Joey didn't say his name so much as breathe it. He face felt hot; he was already getting hard just from seeing him like that. Oh, how he'd missed him.

The brunette cleared his throat awkwardly and asked to come inside. Joey obliged, letting him in and closing the door behind him. Kaiba looked around the apartment without really seeing anything.

"How's your father?"

"He's doing well," Joey answered, relaxing a little. "He's at work right now, though."

"We're alone?"

"Yes, we're—"

Joey stopped dead when Seto grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him hungrily. Joey met his hunger with a fire of his own, giving the brunette the assurance he'd needed. He backed Joey against the wall and pressed the blond between it and his own wet body, kissing roughly as the scent of ozone clinging to Kaiba's body went to both of their heads.

"Wait." Joey was trying hard to keep his wits about him, which couldn't have been more difficult in that moment. Nothing was harder than resisting Seto when he was at his most affectionate—like he was right now. "Why are you so wet?"

"I went outside to think. Then I started running and I didn't stop until I got here." He went in for another kiss as Joey felt his resolve weakening.

_Damn, that's romantic._

"Please come home Joey." Water trickled from Seto's hair to Joey's as he pressed their foreheads together. "Please." There was a catch in his voice, desperation in his eyes, and Joey could see just how much he wanted him home. He could also feel how much he was poking into Joey's lower stomach.

How on earth could he possibly say no to a begging Seto Kaiba?

"I think," Joey began unsteadily. "We should get you out of those wet clothes."

A little while later, Seto was pulling the blankets up around both of their bare bodies. It was still storming outside, but neither of them cared. It was warm enough pressed up against each other as they savored being together again that the rain was the least of their concerns. They had far more important things to discuss.

"I'm sorry, Joey." Seto closed his eyes as he buried his nose in the other's messy mass of blond hair, his well-muscles arm wrapped around Joey's waist and keeping him close. "I shouldn't have been so harsh towards your father."

"It's okay," Joey murmured contentedly. Sex tended to put him in a forgiving mood. "I understand why ya freaked out. I woulda too if it'd been the other way around." With a happy sigh, he wriggle closer to the warm, protective presence at his back, the narrow bed making it necessary for them to be as close together as possible so that neither of them were hanging off the edge. "I'm just glad you came to your senses. Do you think we could move back in tonight?" The silence following his question was worrisome. "Seto?"

"That's not what I meant," the brunette answered slowly, almost reluctantly. Joey's temper flared instantly.

"Then what the hell _did_ you mean?" He squirmed onto his back so that they could speak face to face.

"I mean that I shouldn't have said all the things that I did. I stand by my opinion that he should be in rehab, but it wasn't fair of me to say that people can't change. Just look at you and I."

Seto lifted a hand to touch Joey's cheek but the blond whacked it away and sat up, turning his back on the brunette.

"So _you_ know what's best, huh?" Scorn dripped from his words as he started gathering his clothes. He pulled his boxers on as Seto sat up too, irked and disappointed.

"In this case, yes, I do." Seto started to dress as well. "Substance abuse isn't easy to overcome, especially without professional help. Is he even in an A.A. group?"

He wasn't, but Joey wasn't about to admit that. "That's none o' your business!"

"If you want him to live at _my_ house with _my_ little brother, then it _is_ my business!" Kaiba snapped at him. "Why are you so upset by this? I would have thought that you'd want him to get help. It's best for him—"

"No, it's not!" Joey was shouting now as he angrily threw a pair of dry jeans at Seto, who caught them with a glare and began to pull them on. "I don't want my old man in the slammer, and if he goes to rehab, they'll find out about what he did, and that's exactly where he'll end up!"

"As well he should!" Kaiba was yelling too, angered by the notion of someone who'd hurt his precious puppy getting away with his crimes. "It's called the _justice_ _system_ for a reason: because it's _good_ when bad people get punished!"

"You don't _understand!_ " The blond was practically screaming as he threw a dry shirt at Seto. "I love my dad! Even when he hit me, I still loved him!"

"You're right," he replied coolly as he tugged the shirt down. "I don't understand."

"He was a good dad once." Joey got quiet as he fought back tears. "He can be like that again. I don't want to wait another ten years for him to get out of prison for that to happen, though." He sniffled and lifted his angry eyes to Seto's once more. "So much has gotten between him and I over the years, but now that he's back, I don't want you forcing us apart again."

"It's not like you can't see him when he's in rehab," Kaiba began, but Joey wouldn't listen anymore.

"He needs to be with _me_ , wherever he is. Visiting isn't the same. He _needs_ me around to remind him why he's getting clean. I'm _all_ he needs." Joey's jaw was clenched stubbornly, fists balled at his sides, standing tall and proud with his chin jutted out. They were both fully dressed by now, and they stared at each other in silence as they realized what was happening.

"There's nothing I could say that would change your mind, is there?"

"Nothing at all."

Seto started to walk towards the door, but then he stopped and turned. "Doesn't any of it mean anything to you?" he implored, starting to sound desperate again. "Everything we've been through, all the time we spent together: doesn't any of that matter?" In a pained whisper and with pleading eyes, he added, "Don't _I_ matter to you, Joey?"

"If you don't accept my father, then you don't accept me." Joey crossed his arms, his resolution apparent. "Family comes first. That much you should be able to understand."

"If you think I don't care about your family, then you don't know me at all."

Seto slammed the door so hard it rattled Joey's bones. As Seto staggered from the weight of his grief, Joey dropped to his knees in defeat. He'd won the argument, but in those moments, he felt more like a loser than ever.


	6. Homecoming

"Oh, hi Seto. I was wondering where you were." Mokuba eyed his elder brother curiously. "Why are you all wet?"

"Because I was outside," Kaiba answered through gritted teeth as he shook the water from his hair. "Can we please talk later, Mokuba. I've had a long day, and I'm not in the mood for much of anything right now." He started walking away from the front door, and Mokuba trotted to keep up with him.

"Where did you go?"

"I'm not in the mood—"

"Did you talk to Joey?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that Seto was wearing Joey's t-shirt, but a different one from this morning. Kaiba turned on his brother then, eyes ablaze with fury.

"Yes, I did. And guess what? He's never coming back, so you can stop asking about him." As Seto strode away, Mokuba stared after him, upset and a bit angry himself.

After a few moments, he dashed after his brother, calling, "But Seto—!"

"Give me the key."

Mokuba sighed and removed the key from around his neck, placing it in Seto's outstretched hand. He watched sadly as his brother walked away.

This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen.

As Seto smoked on the balcony outside his room, his hands shook. He didn't want to think about Joey, so naturally Joey was the only thing on his mind. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his soaked clothes this time, but smoked with minimal cover from the rain. He didn't care that he was shivering from the cold.

When he finished the cigarette, he went to down to the room where his hot-tub was secluded away. He locked the door and stripped out of his cold clothes to submerge himself in the hot water. It didn't make him feel any better, though, and he went to bed in the early evening with a fever and chills.

Mild hypothermia.

He was fine by morning, but the night was hell for him, and for more than one reason.

He couldn't cut like he used to. It hurt more than before, making his hand falter, and that made him even more angry. He always locked the doors, afraid of how Mokuba would react if he ever found out.

Day after day, he moved through molasses, hardly paying attention to anything. He could only keep up like that for a couple weeks before he realized that he was absolutely useless trying to work, so he finally just put Roland in charge and took off in his jet for America. Wallowing in self-pity and misery wasn't helping him; maybe there was a way for him to forget his pain.

Mokuba begged him to stay, but Kaiba didn't hear a word. Mokuba would be safe while he was gone, and that was the only concern that could have kept him home.

* * *

Joey tried to pretend that everything was alright. Every day, he put on a show, trying his best to look like the happiest person in the world. He laughed the loudest, jokes the most, smiled the biggest—and that's how Yugi knew that he must have been hurting like hell. He tried to broach the subject of his breakup a few times, but Joey was always quick to escape.

When he heard that Kaiba'd gone jetting around the world, he tried desperately not to look angry or jealous or betrayed, but Joey wasn't _that_ great of an actor.

Mokuba showed up at his school again the day after Kaiba left, clearly furious.

"You said you'd take him back if he apologized." They were the first words out of his mouth as soon as Joey was close enough to hear him.

"I never said that," Joey quickly amended, but Mokuba was in no mood to listen.

"Yes, you did!" Mokuba stomped his foot. "What does he need to do to get you to come home? What more do you want?!"

"I want him to accept my father the same way he accepts me!" Joey snapped back, even though he should have known better than to lose his temper with a child. "Family is as important to me as it is to him!"

Joey got his temper from his father, and even though his father was getting better, he still had his indiscretions. Almost two weeks after his talk with Mokuba, Joey slept over at Yugi's house after school and came home the next morning to find his father roaring drunk. He'd gotten into a fight with a coworker the day before, lost his job, and he panicked. He'd freaked out, and unable to handle the sudden stress, he'd gone to the bar to drink away his panic.

Father and son got into a struggle, and Joey came away with a black eye. When his dad finally sobered up he was deeply distressed, and Joey did his best to calm him down and keep him home, away from the bar and away from the beer.

That was when he started calling Mokuba every day to ask if Kaiba'd come home yet. When he went back to school, he was taking an anti-inflammatory to reduce the swelling and wearing the old make-up he'd used to hide his bruises in the past. Tristan and Yugi didn't notice, but Tea and Ryou did. Tea noticed because he'd done a shoddy job with the make-up, and Ryou noticed because he recognized Joey's manner of masking physical pain. He recognized it because he'd been in the same position before.

When Kaiba finally came home, Mokuba called Joey right away, and Joey bolted from his apartment immediately. He couldn't wait any longer.

* * *

The door opened and once more they were facing each other, but this time, Joey was the one crawling back with his tail between his legs, begging for forgiveness. He couldn't say the words, though. He couldn't make them come out, not with Seto's hard gaze on him, his face as impassive as stone. He'd once learned how to read Kaiba; had he lost his ability, or was Kaiba just hiding more from him than ever before?

"How was America?" he asked faintly, feeling quite small in front of Kaiba's broad, muscular bulk.

"Miserable."

At least Joey could tell that he was sincere. Seto just watched him, waiting for the explanation he didn't even have to ask for. Joey tried to stammer something out, and as he did so, Seto finally let his feelings get the better of him. He licked his thumb and reached out, holding Joey's face with his hand as his thumb wiped away a smudge of foundation. Joey winced and silenced himself, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he watched Seto as carefully as Seto watched him.

"This is exactly what I feared would happen."

"Okay, so you were right. Happy now?" Joey didn't want to snap at Seto, but it was hard not to when he could see an "I told you so" on the horizon.

"Of course not."

Thick arms wrapped around Joey and pressed him close into the warm wall of Seto's chest. He felt Seto shudder, heard him swallow back the rasp in his voice, and that was enough to make Joey start to cry.

"You were right all along," he sobbed as he embraced Seto in return. "And I was horrible to you about it."

"Don't think about that right now," Seto whispered as he squeezed Joey in his arms, intent on never releasing him. "You're not allowed to leave me ever again, Joseph Wheeler. Do you hear me?"

His voice was sharp again, but Joey could also hear the edge of fear. He nodded in answer, in perfect agreement with that arrangement.

"If you ever leave again, I'll…" The threat died on his lips, and he buried his face in Joey's hair as he started to cry too. "I _need_ you, Joey. I can't live without you…"

"Me too," Joey sniffled. "But about you."

Seto let Joey cry a little longer and start to calm down before he spoke again.

"I've been doing some research," he began slowly as Joey wiped his eyes on his sleeves. "I found a rehab center not too far from here that's known for its incredible… discretion." Their eyes met. "He'd be safe there, Joey, and you'd still be able to visit him."

"Seto, you're the best." He threw his arms around Kaiba once more, and this time, Seto lifted Joey in his arms and began to carry him back to their room.

All he said in response was, "Thank you."

After a little while, Joey said, "You usually say 'I know' when I say that."

"Maybe I've forgotten." Their eyes met, and in that instant, Joey knew exactly what Seto had been doing since the last time they saw each other.

"I relapsed too." Joey chuckled half-heartedly. "I guess we all did."

"How much weight have you lost so far?"

"Not much. Maybe twelve pounds." Joey shrugged it off. "I'll be fine in a week. You'll see." He grinned at Seto in an attempt to cheer him. "I guess that puts us all back at square one, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Joey. That it most certainly does." Seto carefully set Joey down on the bed and kissed him. "Have you started purging again yet?"

"Just a few days ago," Joey tugged Seto back into another deep, gut-wrenching kiss. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"Never break that promise to me." He sounded as demanding as ever, but Joey knew that so much more was at stake. "Never."

"I won't." Joey's eyes softened as he ran a hand through Seto's thick hair. "I love you, and I'll never hurt you again."

"I love you too, Joey." One more bittersweet kiss. "I'll never put our relationship in jeopardy like that ever again. Just…" He butted his nose into Joey's cheek as their faces hovered close together. "Stay. Stay forever. Never leave me."

"Relax, Seto." Joey combed his fingers through Seto's short hair as he held onto Seto's shoulders with the other hand. "I'm not going anywhere."


End file.
